Ariz.-Mexico border is a hotspot for drug arrests

Southwest border ports, including six in Arizona, were among the busiest spots for drug smuggling, according to a new study of large-scale drug arrests.

The report also showed a broad decline in marijuana-related arrests, which might indicate that legalization in some states has lessened demand for Mexican pot. Meanwhile, arrests for harder drugs such as cocaine, heroin and meth, remained steady.

While not comprehensive, the study does suggest one of the Trump administration’s primary proposals to combat drug-trafficking — a U.S.-Mexico border wall — would do little to fortify a major import avenue for illegal drugs: the nation’s ports of entry. More online: Read past stories about the border at immigration.azcentral.com.

The study used five years of published reports on drug arrests, drawing from official sources such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as well as national and regional media outlets. The report examined data through February, according to Logan Freedman, the data scientist who compiled the review, which was published on the website Addictions.com.

“A majority of these drug arrests are going to be large quantities of drugs,” Freedman said. “So if someone was captured in, say, New York City, with under an ounce of marijuana, it’s not necessarily going to show up in this report, because it’s going to be misdemeanor crime. This is going to be large drugs coming into the U.S.”

Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment. According to the report:

» The DeConcini Port of Entry in downtown Nogales had the most drug arrests in the country, with a total of 167 during the five-year period, the bulk of which involved meth, cocaine and heroin. It was closely followed by other areas of the Nogales port complex.

» The Douglas port of entry occupied the No. 3 spot. Nearly all arrests there were for marijuana.

» The wider Yuma area, where marijuana also dominated, and the San Luis port of entry, where there was a high number of meth-related arrests, rounded out of the top five.

» A sixth Arizona location, the Mariposa commercial crossing, occupied the ninth spot on the list.

Some of the locations in the top 10 list seem to overlap. For example, the DeConcini crossing is part of the larger Nogales port complex, along with the Mariposa commercial crossing.

Freedman said they listed them separately because that is frequently how the reports were drafted.

The new report offers a limited snapshot of the situation along the Southwest border. But data on drug seizures from Customs and Border Protection also show Arizona as the busiest area for drug smuggling.

The agency tracks drug seizures through its Office of Field Operations, which oversees the nation’s ports of entry, and Border Patrol, which is responsible for areas between the ports.

Border Patrol consistently seized more drugs between the ports of entry than the OFO did at the ports.

Statistics from fiscal 2012 to February showed that Arizona is by far the busiest of the nine Border Patrol sectors along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In fiscal 2016, the Tucson Sector, which covers most of Arizona, accounted for nearly 60 percent of the drugs seized at the border outside of the ports of entry. Since October, that number is more than 50 percent; in other words, more than all other sectors combined.

In contrast, CBP data shows that drug seizures at ports of entry are more evenly distributed, with California as the busiest section, though not by much.

CBP statistics also show marijuana seizures declining along the border, while seizures of more dangerous and potent drugs such as heroin, cocaine and meth, are on the rise.

That trend is most visible at the ports of entry.

Though the seized quantities of those drugs are far smaller than marijuana, they are more lucrative and fetch a higher street price in the United States.